ARE NEW ZEALANDERS SPORTS?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14382, 27 November 1908, Page 8

ARE NEW ZEALANDERS SPORTS?

FOOTBALL IN BAD ODOUR. ENGLISH CRITICS' COMMENTS, (Fboh Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, October 16. In English football Circles to<lay the name ot Aow Zealand is unpalatable. Practically ciOry. paper lii Lvikwu, including tuy -spurting organs, has published cuargci ol roughing, brutality, and " pointing'' oil we pan ot tho i.\etv //Culund players. Aot a single voice lias Wen raised in de-fence. AiSetr/ualaiKlei' 111 ixjiidon, who its.generally to tlio lore u'liero tJie Honour ot jus country is utt'ected, tells:'me Unit ho has' enuua\ourcd to say » word in doionce, oi. his couuuymeii, but not a singto paper will ijive liim' a Hearing, Ho is disappointed with tins evidence of Uritisli. uirpiay. Most oi those, too, who nave been interviewed on tho results of , the tour, repiosuiit i Jj.it the iiritisii team stored; » ; majority of triumphs, whereas it is notorious thai they did hot win a single lual-clusti inatcli iu -New Zealand. Mil HAHXK'IT SILENT. . Mt Harnett lias said iit tie iu tho strain ' in which ne is reported to nave epoKoa belore leaving the colonics. ilo told a, . oportmg Liio reporter mat tho quality of tlio play generally was good, botli on the part oi bio, iiruuh team and their oppononts, The keenest interest had been uisplayed'in the liiatcnes both by u'tio players aim tlio public, muecd, tlie enthusiasm at" the Antipodes was remarkable. Absolutely nothnig i.kc it was known' in this country.' While, ot course, t-ho colonials tlcsircd their side to win, they were not slow to approoiato the performance qf tho visitors when the bntisu side secured a victory, Ho, releried to the capital matches piaycdi m Mew Zealand ami Australia. iVlinor iujuries were sustained by a lew players, butnothing' serious, while the health oi the team nad been good. throughout tlio tour. > "j KOUUH IN To the Morning Post Mr Harnett opened out, and said: "On the fields v ot.New i Zealand the men,found the football lijiril, in a *qac» that is unknown at Home. He, , quite agreed with what-inembels of. the side haa to say about thii severity of, tho.' lootbuii, and there was no uesiro ainong : , many oi them to visit New Zealand again • y tor die purpose of indulging iu ' Mugger 1 as it is play out,there. Iu Lnglanu, ho. said, all yood Unionists thoroughly enjoyed '■ hard footoall, but there, was a limit/to. severity, and the giimoi ceased to'be,a sport when roughness set in. The British'-' team naturally had to. play extra hard a« a riiatter of seli-presen'ation, and tlw ytisuit Sof it all was they had much tho/.( worst of the luck in-tlie matter of injuries, '• i'our losses instead .of nine would , havtt more equitably tlie lodtbail'oi the tour, but fortune was abnornlaliy uti'kind in .tho'way of aeciCsnts." '. ■ To the Daily Express he said the repro- . ' sentativo New Zealand sides were just a - good as tlie All Blacks, but-the wiiig lor- '. ward*, was oven more aggresaivo' in • his own county, he added pregnantlyV " Wtatever is don«, wo . ehould keep in very close touch with the South African ■: piayois; who, besides being amateurs to. : the core, are genuine sportsmen, who playclean and honest Itugby." ' That is. tho general tone of the English press just now. , V\. L., Oldham, who said something ' damaging iu a recent letter Home', told an interviewer 'that personally ho. would/ not cary to play football, regularly in New n^i.-u ■ •• s °n u n formation -by tho mtishers was most effective, as proved by the fact tliat they got the ball 19 times out of 20. lhe tour Was likely to be productive of, much good,-so far as the development of the game was concerned. ■ FOOTBALL A RELIGION. J. C.■ M. Dyke ."bears .testimony,: to the " oordial hospitality tlie team received in; Zealand, aoid Jio tells a rather cxag- 1 g'ertited stojry of colonial earnestness. Ho says all the New Zealand players were gooi],! but personaJly he did, not think iiiuch of\ tho provinces. - The New .Zealandors wcro lucky, jnasmuohi/as they understood the ; T ay u'°• TC^ere « 3 r®ad the' ' the Britishers did not j and there wefre tHreo' games he (jonsidered the v-isitow. we're fairly • f" c ,. S( l ÜBr q'y done out of. The gairie at Wellington was lost through,bad litck. 'NW Zealand beat the British team twico badly on their merits, and in New Zealand an<l. Australia tlie visiting side threw two gamea\ away>l)y . bad play pure, aiid simple. In iSew Zealand it w-ns a owse of playiiig'the'. man. ra-tJier thaiv tho . ball, and this grow upon the British team to ..some "extent, though' when they got tc. Australia/ where" the game was played differently, .iho men', settled down- to. their work, jtnd played the ■ gamo.as they wanted to.playut. •; Football in New Zealand wis a religion. ' ■ puro and simple. The country was;mad ohi it,,working men being able'to spare a fort-' night, and even three wcelcs, to play iri the game. In conclusion, Mr Dyloe stated that' - jio could not say . that he was favourably impressed with Now Zkland football/ taking r an< ' trough. It was magnificent football,, oortamly, yet at the same Hmithere was too much of the idea that a man >. was a good footballer because ho heat the referee. It iwemcd' to be , their idea to win at any cost, whereas in Au4-' tralia the, game was played in a much moro sporting style.: If they lost»in- : Australia ; tncy admitted they wero beaten, wherea® in J»ew Zealand they always had an excuse, :> .Not-a single player .has admitted on paper-: that the British team lost their games because they enjoyed their holiday thoroughly ' form 110t tho trouble t0 B«t Into TRICKS AND FOUL PLAY.' The Morning Post, one of the most r«spraablo; of London's dailies, commences Its criticism thus:-" The weird 'storied o f.. the conduct of the game! in New Zealand ' that Mfrbeing told everywhere ,by mem- :' ters of the British team tend to confirmtho inferences conveyed by Reuter, v which i continually refm-ifed to injuries W the v!si- 1 tors during the recent tour.' Rugby is of necessity a , hard game, • and -the -reat unionist likes' it so—when everything/is ' straight and aboveboard; but 1 when tricks and foul play are. the forces produced to thwart genius and skill it becomes necessary to get as far as possible to the root of the ■ matter. Th e Post believes that the' Kugby which is something more than hard . is an invention of tho colonies, aiid fears H* 1 . 1 •Imperial good.feeling will, gain nothing it the idea becomes prevalent.that team 9 from'.' New .Zealand and Australia do not conform ™ 'h® spirit and the lottcr of tlie, rules.; lhe Wallabies, whose spirit a fortnight ago was the admiration of tlie English press,. ■have now come under the banh. \ Since tho gamo against Glamorgan at Cardiff they have been much criticised. The Post says:—"The New Zealanders clothed the ' wiiig.forward with the, tactics of obstruet,on; Australians at Cardiff last Week stooped to tho same thing, ahe' difference .. witli tho , New - . Zealarid-ers it ■■ was something of. a fine art, whereas the • latest'tourists carried out their, taotics in unblushing nakedness." A QUIET TIP. Of coui-se there will bo' differences of ' opinion in New Zealand as to the justice' of the attacks that have been niado. ' Tha ' old idea that the English are the embodi-'. ment of tho spirit of chivalry and sportsmanship'was unfortunately destroyed by a series of incidents which occurred even before the Alt Blacks set- foot in England. It is indisputable that all the good that, wae done by tho, All Blacks lias now been | undone, and New Zealand is highly unPopular in England. If tho effect- of this' ended with football it would not matter a groat deal, but it does not. Tho Rugby ? Union knows how things are, and if it fails to do its [duty and clean up Now Zealand football' then - it furnishes the best possible reason wily ; a' professional, body i should step in and take control. '